Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's ok!

Share a personal survival experience with us and explain what you learned from it. You might help someone.

Moderator: ZS Global Moderators

Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's ok!

Postby maldon007 » Fri Jun 15, 2012 2:58 pm

Had to put that on the end, didn't want everyone getting all upset before the read :lol:

But really, it was scarry and sucked real bad for the wife.


So the ride was Buzz Lightyear, and we were getting off the "space ships" and heading for the exit. I was busy grabbing cameras/bags from the car, wife & kids were already off the car and walking ahead (mom carrying one kid, two in tow) on the people mover that exits you from the ride. Right near the end of the moving part, my youngest girl (3.5yo) tripped and landed right at the point where the rolling mat goes under the floor.

From what I can tell, the mat scooted her onto the solid floor, leaving her butt kinda half on/half off the rolling part. At the same time, the back/bottom part of her frilly dress was being dragged into the thin space between the rolling mat and the solid floor. Lucily, once it had pulled maybe a foot or so of material in, it either couldn't pull any harder (she was pinned down pretty hard) or it got caught on something.

The wife was trying to stand her up from the front, by pulling her arms (not sure if she knew 100% how much of her dress was sucked in at that point), as you would help someone stand up, who was sitting. This didn't work, because the space between the rolling mat & the "lip" above it, was too small & held the dress tightly... OR it was stuck on something inside, hard to say.

I saw what was happeneing about then (and heard, kid crying/wife yelling), and from my pov, I could see all of her dress, to the waist, was pulled under the floor. I could also see it was pulled tight against her, holding he down to the floor. But it also looked to be static at that point, not pulling the dress off or her down on her back, as it probably could have.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to yell for them to shut off the walk, not even realizing that there would be an emergency cut off button (it seems all the ride workers have a wire-less off button). So, instead, and not wanting to alarm the wife any more than she already was (more on this later), I said "I got her, honey." in a overly calm voice, and proceded to pick her up the way you pick up a very heavy thing but you don't want others to realize it is that heavy, to you.

I grabbed her under the arms from behind, and at the same time, got a good hold of the sides of the dress, kinda wadded up into handles, then pulled pretty much as hard as I could. The dress ripped as I pulled her up (kid's dresses are tougher than you think), and my back only tweeked a tad. Once she was up, one of the teenage dumbasses that worked there finally hit the button (she was trapped for at least a good thirty count, maybe more, with 5 employees watching stupidly, one acually laughing).

She ended up with a few small friction burns, and a sore bum, otherwise she is scared shitless of those rollie floors now. On the other hand, the wife is scared for life, thinking her kid was going to die. Bottom line, hold the dress wearers tight, near the end of those moving walks... Or you will end up with free disney dresses, the hard way!
Image
User avatar
maldon007
ZS Member
ZS Member
 
Posts: 3669
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:49 am
Location: Pickle Bucket Brigade

Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's ok!

Postby wee drop o' bush » Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:10 pm

I'm glad she's ok poor wee thing, you must of all had a hair-raising experience.
It wouldn't do any harm to send a letter to the park management explaining what happened & the attitude of the staff involved. Some training & development opportunities there for sure.
I think you coped with it well :)
Mr. E. Monkey wrote:Wee drop is NOT a dinosaur with a mind-control hat. Wee drop is NOT a dinosaur with a mind-control hat...

goofygurl wrote:Wee is a fire breathing dragon???

Image
wee drop's Sheep Farming thread Image
User avatar
wee drop o' bush
ZS Lifetime Member
ZS Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 3855
Joined: Sun May 15, 2011 7:56 am
Location: Northern Ireland (Deepest, Darkest North Antrim)

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby maldon007 » Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:15 pm

If you knew my wife, you would know the letter(s) was(were) already inbound :lol:
Image
User avatar
maldon007
ZS Member
ZS Member
 
Posts: 3669
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:49 am
Location: Pickle Bucket Brigade

Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's ok!

Postby wee drop o' bush » Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:20 pm

maldon007 wrote:If you knew my wife, you would know the letter(s) was(were) already inbound :lol:

Fair enough :D
Mr. E. Monkey wrote:Wee drop is NOT a dinosaur with a mind-control hat. Wee drop is NOT a dinosaur with a mind-control hat...

goofygurl wrote:Wee is a fire breathing dragon???

Image
wee drop's Sheep Farming thread Image
User avatar
wee drop o' bush
ZS Lifetime Member
ZS Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 3855
Joined: Sun May 15, 2011 7:56 am
Location: Northern Ireland (Deepest, Darkest North Antrim)

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby Blacksmith » Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:53 pm

Lucky, lucky. A number of people get killed on those things every year just the way you describe. Good on you all for paying proper attention to your kid too.
The dead go on before us they
Are sitting in God's house in comfort
We shall see them face to face--


ZCJD-
Fe3C
User avatar
Blacksmith
ZS Member
ZS Member
 
Posts: 6125
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:16 pm
Location: Missile Command, Outside of Rocket City... no really.

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby majorhavoc » Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:20 pm

So glad to hear of the positive outcome. While in hindsight I can see how you feel you should have yelled out "Hit the kill switch!", I don't think I would have done anything differently than you did.

You kind of hyperfocus on the immediate situation in front of you and the full signficiance probably didn't become clear until you were in the middle of forcably separating your girl from that part of her dress ensnared by that mechanical monster. I think you did well extricating her the way you did. From the way you describe it, I think you were unconsciously doing it exactly the way you needed to in order to ensure you didn't injure your little girl in the process.

I'd say very well done. Be prepared however for a militantly paranoid wife when encountering these types of situations in the future, and for a child who will likely have a life long fear of escalators and people movers.
User avatar
majorhavoc
ZS Donor
ZS Donor
 
Posts: 4473
Joined: Wed May 12, 2010 10:06 am
Location: Maine

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby maldon007 » Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:36 pm

We did stay at the park for a couple more rides, for mostly that reason, to get her to go on the walks & see how she did... She was scared of them, indeed... Had to be picked up, etc. So "back on the ol' horse" didn't work... but maybe NOT getting sucked into them, at least made her most recent memory of them, NOT be terrifying? Anyway, she's young, she will get over it :?
Image
User avatar
maldon007
ZS Member
ZS Member
 
Posts: 3669
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:49 am
Location: Pickle Bucket Brigade

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby maldon007 » Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:05 am

Final outcome, after some back & forth, we get $1000, they get a signed statement of non liability (or something like that... we say we won't sue them anyway.)

Kid is not TOO scared of people movers, had her go on the escalator at the airport a few times. By the 3rd time she was stepping over the "roll under" point with only a little trepidation... Wife still hates them :wink:
Image
User avatar
maldon007
ZS Member
ZS Member
 
Posts: 3669
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:49 am
Location: Pickle Bucket Brigade

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby Tetra Grammaton Cleric » Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:31 am

:shock: Wowzers Maldon, that would have a scary situation for sure! Glad to hear there was a happy outcome.

-
"I shoot the dead." - Harlen Maguire, The Road to Perdition.

FAK SURVIVOR GARDEN
Image
Hk33k - in memorium.
-
User avatar
Tetra Grammaton Cleric
ZS Lifetime Member
ZS Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 5409
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:17 pm
Location: Western Terror Australis.

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby Fletch » Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:34 am

I got a shoelace caught in an escalator as a kid, and it basically started puling my shoe tighter and tighter crushing my foot - I escaped with no real injuries or fear of escalators but damn me I learnt to tie my shoelaces!

Glad she's ok, and I'm sure she'll have put it to the back of her mind soon, just like I did.
Image
"They want their jobs to be easy, and a policeman's job is easy only in a police state."
Fletch
* * * *
 
Posts: 802
Joined: Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:12 am
Location: 25,000 light years from the galactic core, spinning at approx. 67,000mph on a tiny rock called Erf

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby maldon007 » Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:05 pm

Fletch wrote:I got a shoelace caught in an escalator as a kid, and it basically started puling my shoe tighter and tighter crushing my foot - I escaped with no real injuries or fear of escalators but damn me I learnt to tie my shoelaces!

Glad she's ok, and I'm sure she'll have put it to the back of her mind soon, just like I did.



If you had 550 cord laces at the time, it could have been REAL bad :lol: :(
Image
User avatar
maldon007
ZS Member
ZS Member
 
Posts: 3669
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:49 am
Location: Pickle Bucket Brigade

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby Kutter_0311 » Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:01 pm

Don't tell me I'm the only one who had this thought...

Brodie wrote:Man, there's not a year goes by, not one year, that I don't here about some escalator accident involving some bastard kid that could have easily been avoided if some parent, I don't care which one, but some parent conditioned him to fear and respect that escalator!
JAYNE COBB wrote: Well, what you plan and what takes place ain't ever exactly been similar.
Image
TravisM.1 wrote:If a rifle is an option, a rifle is usually the answer.
minengr wrote:I've said it numerous times, a quality rig is only as good as it's weakest link. Which usually is the nut behind the butt.
User avatar
Kutter_0311
* * * * *
 
Posts: 5800
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:44 am
Location: Frozen Tundra, WI

Re: Daughter sucked into people mover at disney world, she's

Postby maldon007 » Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:26 pm

Probably not, one point though... She may have fallen trying to AVOID the roll-under point, in an attempt to jump over it, out of fear... A healthy respect for any machinery is a must, but no real reason to be afraid of it, if you are doing it right.
Image
User avatar
maldon007
ZS Member
ZS Member
 
Posts: 3669
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:49 am
Location: Pickle Bucket Brigade


Return to Personal Experiences

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Medic73 and 2 guests